7-Minute Checkup

KYTH

This company has a treatment for double chins. Not something any of you have to worry about, but the stock closed up a further $8 or so yesterday, now nearly double what we paid four months ago. Guru writes: “If you want to hold this for a year and lower your tax rate you can. It should move into the 50s as people believe AGN will buy them. This will be an easy approval for the FDA. There will be more data at an Oct 3 medical meeting. On the other hand, they won’t file for approval till at least the end of 2013 and won’t get it until the end of 2014. Still, any partner, such as AGN can see that the data are fantastic and KYTH has a bunch of ex AGN people running it. VRX which markets Restylane facial filler would also be interested, so there should be competition to buy KYTH, which argues for a move sooner rather than later. Only 4% of patients discontinued for adverse events — a very low level. Patients are lining up for this already. The product will fly off the shelf.”

MYLGF

Paul O’Donnell: “What ever happened to MYLGF?”

> It did a 1-for-50 reverse split — meaning that if you had bought 5000 shares at 37 cents, you’d now have 100 shares with a basis of $18.50 — and changed its name from Methylgene to Mirati Therapeutics, new symbol: MRTX. The stock is back up to around $15, after dipping to $8, and Guru writes: “Could double from here — possibly much more. I think the products really work. Now that they are on NASDAQ and they have a bunch of ‘winner’ managers running it, the story can run. On the other hand, they won’t have pivotal data any sooner than the end of 2014, or probably 2015, and they will have to raise money. The stock will trade back and forth. At 15, it’s a $130 million market cap. Could easily justify twice that for the products they have.”

HEALTH CARE GENERALLY

Do not miss this 7-minute overview (hat tip: Upworthy) — and then ask yourself why the Republicans are so maniacally committed to rolling things back to the way they were.

They can say they, too, want to fix the system — and Romney actually did take a stab it, in Massachusetts, but once he was on the national ticket he had to join the Republican chorus in denouncing his own plan. Yet if they want to fix the system, why did they fight so hard to kill the Clintons’ proposed reform? Why did they propose no reform of their own in the eight years George W. Bush set the agenda, during six of which Republicans controlled both houses of Congress?

Watch and be furious that the Republicans have devoted themselves to little more than blocking whatever the President wants to do — whether it be modernizing our infrastructure, improving our health care system, or so much else.

FAILED – REALLY?

Monday I dumped a bit of sarcasm on the “failed presidency” meme. I didn’t include anything on Syria, but that’s okay: Jon Stewart did it ever so much better than I could have — here. (The summary: “Pundits argue that the successful use of diplomacy in Syria is the worst defeat in American history.”)